Blood and Iron
by PaxRomaDacia
Summary: Mewni has had a dark past that many wish to forget, but when the past catches up with the kingdom and old foes return from the west in new Mewman territory, Star Butterfly and her best friend Marco go to Mewni to help, expecting a fun monster fighting adventure. But the more Star learns about Mewni's past, she becomes trapped in a grey world, wondering who's the true villain.
1. Chapter 1

Authors note: Well here it is, my first Star vs. the forces of evil fanfic. I recently got into the show and of course, I loves it! It gives me hope that there can still be good cartoons made by Disney.

I based this idea for this story off of two things; my love for Warcraft 3 since its one of my favorite games ever and I recently got back into it with mods, and the episode Mewnipendence day that provides a very grey view on the events of that holiday. (I think that's how it's spelled)

That episode not only develops Star as a character, but also provides some interesting backstory about Mewni as well, so I thought I'd make my own crazy backstory of Mewni's dark past because screw it, why not? So sit back and enjoy the dark tale that shall be spun.

 **Prologue: A Coming Storm**

 **O-O-O**

The morning sun had risen upon a medieval like village, a Mewman village to be exact. The aesthetic was more basic however, instead of the more expensive tiled roofs and brick walls the villages at the Butterfly castle would have, the housing was more traditional with straw and wood, although a few had brick walls for the important buildings and progress for more brick houses was slow with many of them still incomplete.

While the majority of the village consisted of housing, along with a few bakeries, a blacksmith, a barracks for the troops, and a church, the main building that governed the whole village was located in the center, the Lord's Manor house.

The manor house is a tall and lean building that overlooked the entire village, colored white and had a large flag of the kingdom waving in the air, signifying Mewni's ownership of the village. As obvious as the name implies, the manor house holds the lord who rules over the village, who governs every policy made and enforces laws and so on.

But what made this village different were two things.

The first difference was that the village is surrounded by tall wooden walls, reaching to be about thirty feet tall, which surround the entire few hundred acre village and had a few gates around that led to roads that could guide a traveler back to the kingdom of Mewni or further out in the wilds. Not only was the village surrounded by such a large wall, but it was also heavily guarded by many of the troops stationed there, always looking out as if there could be something heading their way now.

The second thing that makes this village stand out is its location, which is nowhere near the kingdom of Mewni.

Instead of being around a beautiful forest or green grassland, the village is in a vast savannah grassland, populated with tall grass, some shrubs and a few sparse trees in the area, and not far away from the village is a set of tall mountains where one of the gates had faced, where many of the workers who lived in the village would go to for work.

As unusual as it is to live in such a different ecosystem, it was part of Mewni's new plans for exploration of new territory to see if there was something to find beyond their already well known kingdom of Mewni.

With the King and Queen's permission, expeditions were sent to explore and colonize more westward since much of the lands there were unexplored, and after many months of traveling through their own lands and sending several ships westward, the expeditions had reached unknown lands their direction.

The western lands are a beautiful marvel to the Mewmens who first explored them, entirely new wildlife was found there, new landscapes and environments were discovered, and the best part of all was that there were no signs of the monsters they had to usually deal with back in the east. What was most fascinating is that these lands resided on an entirely new landmass only a month away from sea, lands that had yet to be explored by Mewmans.

But after fifteen years of settling in the western lands, the Mewmens living there started to dislike their new colonies.

The climate is the most complained about issue for the new settlers of the western lands, every day they worked was always in the searing heat, and the summers were especially horrible during work days. Every night would always be chilly and cold, not cold enough to count as winter, but warm clothes for the nights would be needed. Mewmans never had to experience such harsh climates in their kingdom, but they would rather take the cold than the heat any day.

Another issue the Mewmans complained about is the lack of supplies coming to their village from their further neighbors.

When Mewmans first colonized the west lands, they established plenty of costal colonies and ports so they would receive shipments from their kingdom from the east, which at this point had developed into towns.

There were also many other expeditions several directions of the west lands with different conditions. Colonies in the north had much more lusher and bountiful grasslands which are great areas for farmland and even has some wetlands northeast, while the south had more dry and harsher rock lands, most recently discovered was a large desert that seemed to span countless miles of sand, and many lands in the supposed center of the west lands have massive savannah plains and small hills, with large mountain ranges to the northwest and territory still unexplored to the farthest reaches of the north, south, and several other parts of the new west lands.

This village in particular was much more new and further out in the northwest to large mountain ranges, one of the many villages near the mountain ranges close by that acted as a mining colony, and these colonies would always need fresh water and tools for the long hours of labor.

However, the trip for caravans to reach this village was long and harsh due to the large and wide barren wasteland that acted as a natural border between the eastern coast and the lands westward, devoid with life and only filled with reddish dust and tan rocky landscapes that would get in every travelers way, unless they could magically fly over as many travelers hoped they could.

Sometimes the caravans would be late, or other times never show up at all due to unknown reasons, so the village struggled to keep itself together during these harsh times.

The old monsters in the eastern kingdom of Mewni were nowhere to be seen in these new lands, but they had been replaced with new creatures that they had never encountered, and attacks from these creatures happened often when the settlers went outside to work.

Usually, workers had to be accompanied by troops to be protected from natural predators that preyed on their foreign intruders, seeing if the new settlers were predator or prey themselves. Other times, they would have smaller animals sneaking into their village and stealing their already small food supply, and possibly contaminating it with who knows what kind of disease these new creatures have.

But the worst part of it all were the native inhabitants.

Mewmans called these natives monsters, considering them to be as such due to their aggression and primitive lifestyles, but they were far worse than the ordinary monster back at Mewni.

These creatures were far more organized and more intelligent than Mewman monsters. Either the natives have tribes established already throughout the harsh landscapes, already well adapted and surviving off the land with more simple but efficient methods, or they are constantly roaming the lands as hunter gatherer nomads, never staying in one place for long and always moving, sometimes in area where Mewmans already inhabit.

It was a hard living in the West Lands, but the new Mewmans would make it each day, just barely.

Today was an ordinary day in the summer heat. The morning temperature was not so bad now, but the settlers still wore their lighter clothing aside from the Mewman troops that wear steel armor.

With morning in full swing, Mewmans can be seen walking around the village doing their daily chores such as cleaning housing or managing stores, to the mine workers who have gathered their pickaxes and torches, along with water for the walk to the mountain mines outside. While the mines did not take long to reach, it was essential to move quickly to the mines in the morning with an escort of troops before the sun fully rises.

One such escort had already been assembled at the main gate at the north of the town, as several workers got in line with mules to carry supplies for the worker, while dozens of Mewman troops clad in steel armor and mainly wielded long halberds, while a few more lightly armored troops further in the line of workers have short crossbows for long range protection.

The Mewmans troops in the west lands looked much different compared to their more medieval attire back in Mewni, now with new weapons such as halberds introduced and different kinds of steel plate armor as well for infantry, with full plate armor only reserved for knights. Rumors in the West colonies say that the new garrisons of troops coming in less than a week have new weapons that can shoot metal projectiles, with small ones from weapons called muskets and larger ones from weapons called cannons.

The exact nature of these firearms in unknown, but magic was used in creating them so they differ from gunpowder weaponry on Earth.

Usually, Mewman troops would be clad in full plate armor or chainmail, but the west land Mewman troops wore new steel armor called a cuirass, a new armor worn over the blue and white uniforms that represented Mewni's color. The cuirass consisted of a combination of a breastplate and back plate covering the torso that offered more mobility and flexibility while staying just as durable as steel has always been.

All troops also wore morion helmets, which were open helms with a flat brim and a crest from front to back, giving the Mewman troops the appearance of European Explorers of the Americas from Earth. Officers and nobles who wear the new armor tended to decorate the cuirasses with gold to create various ornaments and place colorful feather plumes on their new helmets, mostly to show off their wealth and appear fashionable.

It was one of the many signs of a renaissance period finally arriving for Mewni.

With the line of workers assembled and the troop escort surrounding the line properly, the gates were given the signal to open by an officer with a blue and white feather plume on his helm. The gates creaked wide open and revealed the wild savannah outside, the only thing guiding the line of Mewmans to the mountain mines being a dirt road, running right through the wilderness of tall grass and shrubbery around it.

A figure inside the top floor of the tall manor house watched as the workers moved out, casually observing the daily chores of his citizens and admiring the rising sun of the savannah. That man watching is the lord of this village, a man with an average height and has an average build with a slightly bulging belly, he would be pudgier since nobles tend to eat quite a bit, but the lack of food affects even the richest of people, so the simple meals would have to do.

Feeling average like an ordinary Mewman was not a feeling nobles liked to have.

"Another day in the summer heat." Mumbled the noble to himself, sounding disappointed at the sight he witnessed while sporting an English accent. "Bugger all why I decided to come here."

The noble simply walked away from the window, going about on his daily life as the escort walked off in the distance, not having a care in the world for his position.

 **O-O-O**

The march to work was harsh to say the least, with the workers already tiring from the heat despite wearing light clothing, and the soldiers escorting them felt the same with the armor they wore.

To keep things interesting during the march, the workers conversed among each other as a feeble distraction from the heat, though complaining about it wouldn't help.

"Damn heat." Complained a worker with balding, wiping the sweat off his brow. "I wish it weren't so hot for once."

"What did you expect?" Asked another worker rhetorically, wiping away sweat from his short brown hair. "That's how it's always been here."

The balding worker shook his head. "I thought that it would be better here. New land with opportunity, you know?"

The other worker responded sadly. "Not if you go further inland. The coast is where the real paradise is at, not up here with rocks, dry grass and bigger rocks."

"That's no better." Butted in a third worker, completely bald. "I hear stories about fish people walking on land. Walking. Fish."

"Another monster then?" Asked the first worker.

The latter nodded his head.

Conversations like that happened every day for the Mewmans who lived here. They were swayed by the prospect of living in a new land, hoping to abandon the low class life they had back at Mewni. But when they arrived at the supposedly "amazing" West Lands, the eagerness of a Mewnan would be wiped away when they arrived, seeing that life here was even harder than being a peasant at Mewni and realizing that they were duped by false praise.

Hopes were only further drained when realizing that there were even more monsters living in the West Lands, and not only were they violent to each other, they were violent to Mewmans as well. The low class Mewmans soon realized that they were not only lied to, but were also surrounded by conflict, something that occurred on a daily basis that reminded them about the first encounter with creatures they labeled as monsters.

Such an old past was something they wished to forget.

"Just what we need, more monsters." Complied the short haired worker. "The Gnolls coming back aren't bad enough?"

"I hope I don't get killed by a Gnoll out of all monsters. I hear that they like to eat your guts while you're still breathing." Said the balding worker, with a slight tinge of fear in his voice.

"Not very bright though. They like fighting each other more than us, so maybe they'll eat each other." Responded the bald worker.

The first worker sighed.

"Cross your fingers then."

These Gnolls as they were called, are one of the many nomadic tribal creatures that recently settled close by the village, and Gnolls are certainly savage creatures to behold.

Gnolls have the appearance of hyenas, but are humanoid and sentient unlike their earth counterpart, and they usually stand in a hunched position and reach to be between five and six feet tall, with fur that is usually colored brownish gold, dark brown, or greenish gray, sometimes with stripes or spots. These particular Gnolls in the central savannahs are usually the brownish gold variant with spots.

While Gnolls are not as tall as a Mewman nor are they as intelligent, they make up for it with their beastly cunning, feral instinct and strength in numbers, preferring to attack in packs rather than alone, which makes them perfect for raiding parties on caravans and mine workers out in the open.

Oddly enough, Mewmans were not just unsettled by their savage nature and lazy habits, but they also felt familiar. They had never seen Gnolls or had any records of hyena monsters in their lifetimes, but they couldn't help but feel wary of them, as if they reminded Mewmans of something familiar.

Only a few weeks had passed since the arrival of new Gnolls and they were already causing problems, but this time felt… off.

Every opportunity Gnolls had to attack Mewmans out in the open were taken, day and night raids would occur every time for the past few weeks against the village, which is unusual for Gnolls since enough observations of the Gnolls have proven that they would rather spend more time fighting each other or sit around and eat meat than participate in combat so often. The only villages Gnolls would raid are ones that lack walls and have few Mewmans in number.

Either these particular Gnolls are a more aggressive variant, or they actually have a competent leader. Regardless, the tribal warriors are not to be underestimated and the Mewman troops kept a sharp lookout for anything suspicious, ready for a possible attack from Gnoll raiders.

Yet after the whole walk to the mines, nothing happened.

No signs of Gnolls were present today, not even a growl or their infamous hyena cackle was heard. The workers thought nothing of it and were thankful to not be attacked, but the troops that escorted them were still on edge, still nervous and grew even more suspicious of the lack of attacks, especially the officer leading them in the front.

The officer has years of experience fighting Gnolls before being assigned to this village. Ten years of his life were spent killing Gnolls and other creatures to further expand the kingdom of Mewni, and he has a very fond hatred of the hyena warriors, which made him just a little bit too obsessed with studying their ways of life and their tactics, whatever tactics they may have.

He twiddled with his imperial styled moustache, a nervous twitch he picked up while living in the West Lands, and pondered as to why exactly the Gnolls missed out on another raiding attempt. Not that they would have cared so much about raiding all the time, but he expected these more aggressive Gnolls to attack, and it made him feel uncomfortable that nothing happened.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Asked one of his halberd troops next to him, making the officer snap out of his thoughts.

"No, Sargent. I'm not alright at all." Admitted the officer. "Those savage beasts should have attacked us by now, and yet there's nothing."

"I'm sure they just got tired of us and moved on." Assumed the Sergeant. "You know how Gnolls are."

The officer gave his fellow troop an annoyed glance, as if he felt offended by the statement.

"I do, so don't question my suspicions about Gnolls when I suspect something wrong about their behavior." Replied the officer, scolding his Sargent. "I've seen this particular clan of Gnolls long enough to know that they wouldn't just stop attacking."

"I apologize, sir. I won't ask any more questions."

As the troops reached their destination, they stopped and stepped out of the way for the workers to march onward to the mines, while following close behind to set up a perimeter around the area. The officer simply frowned as he looked beyond the wild savannah, as a rotten feeling bubbled inside him and kept staring off at the tall grass before mumbling to himself.

"What are those savage monsters up to?"

 **O-O-O**

Unknown to the Mewmans out in the mines, the established camp close by their mining village was bustling with activity.

Dozens of tents are planted firmly in the ground, stitched together with animal hides and held up by wooden poles. While many tents were the small A-shaped homes that Gnolls carried with them, they were just specks in comparison to the recently established tents made around them. Larger dome shaped camps have recently been established at the Gnoll's hideout, possibly made during the night while many Mewmans were asleep, and were made out of the same materials of Gnoll camps, but could house many more creatures inside.

The camp had not just the dozens of Gnolls that moved in, but it now numbered in the hundreds and possibly thousands, something that is unprecedented in their people's history and has never happened before until now.

But what made this even more unusual were the other creatures living amongst them. There are multiple different kinds of humanoid beasts roaming about the well-established camp, mostly equipping armor and sharping blades as if they were preparing for something big, actually managing to cooperate with Gnolls.

Gnolls didn't get along well with other sentient species, only cooperating with them as mercenaries if promised food and gold in return, and even then their loyalty was not fully bought. And yet here they are, helping out different species establish the camp further and readying their weapons as if they were friends.

The other creatures with them had similarities, but they also had enough differences to stand out from the others, especially from the Gnolls who had not seen them often.

All of the new creatures had similar appearances in their humanoid stature, such as all having hooved legs, horns sticking out of their heads, and having hairy bodies of different colors and shades of brown, grey and black, even their faces were similar in the sense that they had similar skull structures and faces that vaguely resemble humans, but they were more beast than man.

Aside from little details such as that, they were completely different species.

The first species are the smallest of the bunch, usually standing around the height of the average human male, but have slim and lean features that gave them great agility and speed, making them the most agile of the bunch. The average sized creatures shared the similar characteristics of goats, with long and thin heads that sported lengthy curling or straight horns pointing backwards, usually having smooth surfaces, and their hair is quite smooth and short, but they can sport some sort of long beards on their chins as well.

The second of their group stood at six or more feet which is just a little more taller than the goat creatures, having a greater and endurable body type than their slimmer counterparts but were considered the most average of their kind, having the most numbers in the camp second only to the Gnolls. They share the appearance of rams rather than goats, but their heads were wider and shorter, and their horns are larger and loop in a more complete curl that point them forward, they even have bumpy ridges on them rather than a smooth surface, and their hair is actually bushy wool that can be long and curly.

The last of the group are the largest and most physically imposing, usually standing at a whopping seven feet and have thick and muscular bodies, and while they numbered the least in the camp, they are the most physically imposing and strongest. The large humanoids had the appearance of bulls, with large, bony heads and a thick neck unlike the slim goats and the middle ground rams, their smooth but thick horns curve outwards in a flat arc, the hair on their body is shorter than the hair on their heads and necks that looks like a wooly, curly mane of sorts, and even had some on their chins that was like a short length beard.

The creatures were all prepared now, equipped with iron armor and their favored weapons of their kind. Gnolls grabbed whatever weapons they could carry, ranging from buckler shields with one handed swords or axes, to crossbows and short throwing spears that were all cheaply made with iron, though a favorite weapon of Gnolls appeared to be flails, weapons that consisted of a metal striking head attached to a handle by a flexible chain, both one handed and two handed variants were most common.

The goat people were mostly armed with short bows, swords or spears, showing that their position in the army were mostly scouts and light infantry. The ram people were mostly armed with many basic weapons like Gnolls but are more proficient with them, but they would mostly prefer sword and buckler, regular bows, spiked clubs, and maces. The bull people use the heavy weapons, mainly large two handed swords, maces, and their most preferred weapons, great axes.

The armor that the beast people wear is also similar in the sense that they are all made from the same material, forged iron, although there were also plenty of low ranking troops that used leather armor and chainmail as well, mostly the Gnolls. The iron armor would be gifted to the more experienced and higher ranking beast members of the group, but each race had a certain amount of this armor on them depending on how much they needed to protect themselves.

The Gnolls mostly wear leather armor which show that they are the lowest ranking in the group, but there are plenty gifted with iron armor to distinguish themselves as higher ranking warriors. The Gnoll's style of armor is unique because it is always customized and scavenged from others, or in this case, gifted by their supposed new allies but only so much was given, so Gnolls tend to take pieces of armor from other races and make their own, but they usually cover their torsos, shoulders, lower legs, and also have shin and forearm guards, crudely stitched together with cheap leather or ram shackled iron or mail.

The larger beast warriors wore more professionally stitched and forged armor, covering the same parts of their bodies as Gnolls, but they had a more cultural aesthetic to them unlike the scavenged armor of Gnolls. Their armor appeared to be most similar to ancient Norse armor, with the goat men wearing mostly light leather armor and chainmail to have more agility and speed, the Ram men wearing thick lamellar leather armor, mail hauberks or heavier iron armor, and the bulls wore the same armor as the rams. Only the most experienced troops in the camp would wear the full sets of iron armor as it was in great demand at the moment.

This camp wasn't ready for a raid, it was ready for a war.

When the beast warriors fully equipped themselves, they gathered at the center of camp for some kind of meeting, standing in place to await for someone to leave the large tent in the middle, a tent bigger than any of the other tents established. The tent flaps opened, revealing the beast man from behind that walked over to see his troops all gathered to hear him speak.

The beast man had a very unusual appearance biologically, having the muscular body, horn shape, a neat coat of silver hair and thick neck and mane of a bullman, but also has bumpy horn ridges, the bony and thick but short head, and body structure of the ram people. He sported a short beard of sorts underneath his chin in Nordic fashion, while his horns had golden spiked rings attached to them, and gave off an intimidating but firm gaze upon his troops with his red eyes and scarred face, but almost looked like he was filled with rage that he hid from his gaze, until the time was right to let it out.

The beast man stood out the most among his comrades, standing at a height of six foot five and wore decorated armor. What made his armor unique was that it was mostly colored red over gold, his shoulder pauldrons have long golden spikes sticking out, his torso covered completely with the crimson paint over the golden color, with the gold colored decoration of his skull in the middle of the torso, while his gauntlets had a smaller row of sharp gold spikes as well. There was even a mail hauberk underneath that could be seen, covering the gaps between the upper arms and legs, but what he really showed off were the skulls that were mounted on the shoulder spikes, which eerily looked like Mewman skulls.

The weapon he wielded is a large two handed axe with sharp blades on both ends, forged with rare metals that give the axe its value, along with being an ancient weapon passed down to only the strongest of warriors, and is even decorated with ancient runes inscripted on the blades, which only further show its value to its user and their ancestors before them. The axe was almost as long as the leader was, with recently sharpened edges for the battle before it, as it stands still in the hands of its owner, who is more than willing to stain his weapon with blood.

The gathering of the monstrous warriors fell silent as they stared at their leader with awe and fear, anticipating the words to come out of such a strange beast creature.

Finally, he spoke with his booming voice, addressing his crowd and grabbed their attention instantly.

"Warriors! We have gathered in this land today for a purpose, one that will shake these lands in a quake of destruction!" Shouted the leader beast. "We come here for what we all seek… Vengeance!"

The beast warriors cheered at the words, already convinced by their leader's words as he continued his speech.

"Though we may all be different creatures, we share the common goal of eradicating those who have wronged us, those who have violated us, those who dare to take away all that we love so much! The true monsters of Mewni!"

The beasts then let out a more anger filled cheer, as if they had felt offended by hearing the word Mewni.

"What better way to prove such a task, than to lay siege on their so called colonies! The same ones that dared to desecrate the lands of our newest allies, the Gnolls?"

The Gnolls cheered only, letting their voices be heard as their new found leader continued.

"And as fellow neighbors and inhabitants of these lands, what are we to do to help? Should we sit on the dirt and wait for the pink skinned devils to tear their way through?" The beasts let out aggressive cheers at the question. "Or will we stand up and fight back the Mewman parasites that dare to invade our homes and slaughter us?"

The beasts were pleased by the second question, responding with a roar of cheering as they raised their weapons in the air.

"Take arms, my fellow Satyrs! For you shall find our foes to kill, and your arrows and spears shall strike swiftly through Mewman hearts with great speed!"

The goat men then cheered to the words, glad that their skills have been noticed by their leader.

"Take arms, my fellow Krions! So that your undying bravery and will to fight to the bitter end shall strike fear into Mewman souls, and you shall damn them to their hell!"

The Ram men cheered at the confident words that their leader gave them.

"Take arms, my fellow Minotaurs! Use your sheer size and strength to crush every mewman that stands in your way, for they can never match such brute power as yours!"

The bull men cheered just as loudly as the rest of the beasts, agreeing with every word spoken.

"And let me, Fulgore Bloodhorn, warchief of the Beastial Alliance, lead you today against our foes and fight alongside you in combat! For we shall fight as one!"

Their leader let out his words with fiery passion, inspiring his crowd with powerful words that fueled their rage and cries for war.

"So let us now fight! Fight under a single banner under a common cause! Fight for our Beastial Alliance set in stone with the blessing of the spirits! Fight for our survival and precious freedom that we have earned! Fight to drive back their filth from these lands! And when our time comes for our crusade, we will take sail back to the east, so that we will continue to fight! Fight so that we may march onward to their kingdom, and raze Mewni until it is nothing but ash in hellfire! Let vengeance finally be ours!"

The last thing spoken from Fulgore was a loud and thunderous roar, a true war cry of beasts that the crowd followed, roaring so loud that even gods would be able to hear them. The Beastial army marched out of camp, led by Fulgore with ferocious fervor and a burning desire to see Mewmans die and suffer. Whether the Mewmans knew or not, one thing was clear.

War is coming.

 **O-O-O**

P.S.- Holy shit! That was a long ass prologue. I won't really be making chapters as long as this, maybe, so bear with me. And now that college has started for me, don't expect the story to be updated in a while, but I still hope you enjoy it regardless.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs. the forces of Evil, but I do own Fulgore, the Beastials, and the West Lands.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: So I just saw the season finale for Star vs. The Forces of Evil, and it was so fucking awesome. The part with the Italian unicorn as funny as it was kinda threw me off and we still have many questions unanswered, but other than that, I loved the finale. Sadly, this means we have to wait a WHOLE YEAR for season two.

Oh well, more fanfiction for us. Hope you enjoy fanfiction stories, we're gonna be on hiatus for a LONG time. This chapter won't have anything about the Beastials, but we'll get to them very shortly, and Star has… other problems as you will see soon.

P.S. - If you haven't watched the finale yet, don't read this until you do because there's SPOILERS AHEAD! You've been warned.

 **Chapter 1: A Normal Day**

 **O-O-O**

It had been a whole year since Star Butterfly arrived on Earth, one year since leaving Mewni to train herself how to control her wand, one year since she met Marco Diaz the "Safe Kid" and best friend, one year since she started going on adventures with her best bestie, fitting in with normal earth life, and even celebrated her birthday on Earth.

But there was still something she couldn't shake out of her mind. Six months ago, she had to save Marco from a horrible monster, and while the name Toffee wouldn't really matter to most people, it mattered to Star a whole lot. She wanted to forget about him and move on, but after destroying her wand and getting it cleaved, Star didn't find it easy.

" _Toffee isn't like Ludo."_

Those words rang in Star's head as she tossed and turned on her bed, shifting uncomfortably in her sleep. That monster Buff Frog was right, Toffee was far worse than some greedy, power hungry buzzard, he was a _real_ monster. It was either destroy the wand or let Marco die, Star knew immediately to choose Marco, she didn't regret her decision and she would do it again in a heartbeat, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

" _You've made it."_

The first words Star ever heard from that creature, so polite and yet so sinister, she blasted him and took his arm off in the process before fighting off the usual routine of monsters, she wished that she could have blasted more than an arm off.

Then the rage inside took her over, her heart shaped cheeks, her magical wand and her eyes glowed white, unleashing a power in her that she had yet to master or understand, something that even Toffee was surprised at. But it wasn't enough to save her friend just yet.

Star kept moving around under her sheets, making low groans and grew more uncomfortable in her bed, living through that nightmare again for what seemed to be the millionth time.

" _That's no way to treat our guest of honor."_

More of Toffee's vile words echoed in Star's mind, that monster who managed to get up and grow back his arm, as if were a flesh wound, and pushed a button to crush Marco in a pancake inside the unbreakable cage he was trapped in. All Star could do was watch and struggle in futility as Marco was about to be killed right before her eyes.

" _That's not going to work again."_

Toffee reminded Star of her magic that he despised in such a calm manner, knowing that she wouldn't be able to break through Marco's prison unless she was willing to make a deal. Star didn't say anything about a deal, she simply dropped her wand in front of Toffee to give, willing to let her most powerful family artifact go to the hands of a monster to free Marco.

Toffee simply stared at Star, unimpressed by her willingness to forfeit power and ignored Ludo's sad attempt at grabbing the wand before one of his monsters grabbed him.

" _Do you really think I'm like Ludo?"_

Toffee pushed back the wand, he wanted more out of it. That, would blow the princess's mind.

" _Destroy it."_

Star couldn't believe it, Toffee wanted it destroyed, and while she claimed she didn't know how, Toffee somehow knew she was lying and even knew what she had to do to destroy the wand. How did _he_ out of everyone know about the whispering spell, an ancient family secret?

Star had to do it, she couldn't let Marco die because of some wand, so she complied with a heavy heart and whispered the spell that she never thought she had to use.

Toffee kept his word and spared Marco surprisingly, but he suffered the price of the whispering spell as the wand began to blow up right in front of him. Star would never forget Toffee's last moments as she went inside of his magical cage with Marco, that evil grin and lowered eyes at the self-destructed magic, that… _Monster._ He looked like he enjoyed what was happened, pleased with what he had made Star do and died knowing that he not only broke the wand, but broke Star as well before the castle exploded in a pink haze.

*GASP*

Star jolted up from her bed, quickly grabbing her wand from behind her pillow and pointed it around her, expecting some monster to attack her.

She sighed as she fell back against the mattress, realizing she just woke up from her nightmare and she was safe in her room. She never really could get past that part of her nightmare, the explosion always woke her up, but she knew how the rest of the story went.

That's when she realized that she was holding nothing in her hands, no wand to speak of was in her possession anymore after the Toffee incident. The last time she saw it was when she gave it to her mother to fix it, but she hasn't heard anything about the wand ever since, "The Toffee incident", as Marco called it. Now Star had to do things on her own without magic to help her, and while she adjusted just fine being as normal as a magical princess from another dimension could be with Marco helping her out, she still felt a part of her missing.

Normal human girl without a magic wand just didn't really feel like her.

The blond girl yawned as she looked out of her palace like window in her room, seeing that the sun was out and shined in her room, warming her up as she got up from bed and did her morning routine, minus the magic.

Fully dressed in her favorite outfit, sea greed dress with a white collar, white lace on the sleeves and bottom, and a cute light purple squid design on the front. She also wears pink and orange stockings, dark magenta boots with a rhino design, and a little yellow star-shaped side bag with a face, and how could she forget her signature red headband with devil horns. Star had to admit, she looked adorable in that outfit, especially that squid on her dress. It reminded her of that video game she likes to play with Marco, but not as messy or OCD inducing.

She chuckled to herself at the thought when she stepped outside her room and walked down the hallway, how Marco got so flustered about that one little spot that was pink instead of red, which happened over and over until she managed to beat her bestie at a game she barely knew how to play, ten times in a row.

There may be no wand, but she still has Marco, along with those dimensional scissors to go pretty much anywhere in the universe.

Today was a weekend on Saturday, so Star thought it would be a great idea to have some breakfast, hang out a bit in Marco's house while figuring out what dimension to go to, and then going to said dimension for another wacky adventure. It helped take her mind off of Toffee, that's for sure.

"Marcoooooo! I'm up and I'm hungry for waffles!" Exclaimed Star throughout the house, hoping to have some of those waffles he would help his mother make.

No reply came back, which made Star concerned about the silence.

"Marco?" She called out again. "Are you home, or did you get kidnapped again?"

It sounded like a friendly joke, but with Star's recent nightmares, she's been getting as paranoid as Marco lately.

Star eyed at Marco's room door and quietly snuck up to it, sporting a smile and thinking that he's still asleep.

"Alright, Diaz. Time for a good ole Star wake up call." She whispered to herself as she turned Marco's room door knob open.

She creaked the wooden door slowly, just peeking out of the corner and whispered in a hushed voice like something out of a horror movie.

"Marco… POLO!"

She burst the door wide open as she shouted after her whispers, jumping inside with fanfare and expected to see the Spanish boy leaping from his covers.

But he was nowhere in his room. His bed was neatly made, nothing in his room was out of place, and his favorite red hoodie was gone.

"I see. I'll play along with your game." Said Star suspiciously, looking at his closet door.

Star then opened the closet door wide open, expecting Marco to jump out and surprise her as revenge for last time, and yet Marco wasn't there either.

"Huh… you're not there either." Star walked out of the room, looking around the hall for Marco. "You're getting really good at this now!"

Star looked all over for Marco upstairs, her bedroom, his parent's bedroom, and even the bathroom, and no one was upstairs, not Marco or his parents.

That was starting to get Star nervous. She just had a nightmare about Toffee, did he come back?

"No." Star mumbled to herself. "He's dead. Like, explosion dead. Marco's gotta be here somewhere."

Star quickly slid down the rails of the stairs, jumping off in time to land perfectly at the living room to find the Diaz family. She didn't even call out for them, seeing as they weren't in the living room either.

"Did they go on a trip to another dimension without me or something?" Asked Star to herself.

The house was eerily quiet for her taste, and assumed that the family must be in the kitchen making waffles already.

"Alright guys, you fooled me!" Called out Star as she walked to the kitchen. "Now let's make some-

Star was cut short when three figures stood up from behind the kitchen counter, actually surprising Star and made her jump back.

"HAPPY ANIVERSARY!"

If she still had her wand, she would have blasted the figures in front of her out of surprise, so she settled for kicking whatever one of the figures was holding into his face, her reflexes doing the talking for her.

It was at that moment when she realized who was in front of her.

"Happy uh… anniversary." Said a muffled Marco covered in cake.

It was the Diaz family.

Marco and his parents were wearing party hats and had thrown confetti for this occasion, and Marco was holding a delicious strawberry cake in his hands… before Star kicked it in his face.

"Opps! Sorry Marco. I didn't know about the surprise." Apologized Star, wiping away some pieces of cake for Marco to speak, and even tasted a piece herself.

"That's kind of the point of a surprise." Clarified Marco, as he tasted some of the cake with Star and smiled with her. "This cake is still good, though."

His parents simply smiled at the sight. Those two couldn't really get mad at each other, and even when they did, they made up for it.

"Don't worry about it, Star." Replied Mrs. Diaz, getting a few napkins for her son. "We got an extra cake just in case this would happen."

"It's always a good idea to have extras for our guests and family." Said Mr. Diaz, getting out another strawberry cake in the fridge.

"Aw, you shouldn't have." Star then had a confused look. "But what's with all the party stuff? My birthday already passed."

"You don't know, Star?" Asked Marco, with Star shaking her head in response. "It's our one year anniversary!"

"We're married?"

Marco blushed at the question and was flustered red.

"N-no Star! It's our one year anniversary since you came to earth."

Star looked up and just noticed the colorful party banner hung up that said "ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY" with neat drawings of her and the Diaz family across the banner, it even had butterflies and rainbows as extra decorations.

"Oh uh, I tried making it very, Star like." Admitted Marco. "So I drew all of that for you."

"Marco is our little artist." Said Mrs. Diaz as she pinched her son's cheek, much to Marco's annoyance.

Star felt overwhelmed with emotion at all of this, feeling so happy that the Diaz family put up all of this for her and were actually glad for her being here.

"I can't believe you guys did all of this for me." Star mumbled lowly, dropping her head down.

Star then jumped with glee as she hugged the family in a crushing bear hug, everyone still smiling despite Marco feeling his bones being crushed by Star's more superhuman strength.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" She exclaimed happily. "You're all the best!"

After the little hug, Star and the family settled down and celebrated despite it being early in the morning. They ate the strawberry cake together, one that didn't have Marco's face all over it, and chatted about all kinds of things from their mornings to some of Star's adventures.

However, midway through a conversation about Star using her wand to save Marco from some monster, Star quietly stared at her cake.

"Star? Are you okay?"

Star looked up to see Marco giving her a concerned look, along with his parents who were equally concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good." She replied lowly. "Just a little… tired."

Marco frowned at the response. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know that. I'm just really tired, Marco." Lied Star. "I'll be fine."

Marco nodded, but only to get off her back for now.

He knew something in Star changed after the whole Toffee incident. She may be good at hiding it from his parents and everyone else she knew with her cheerful demeanor, but Marco is her best friend, he can tell when Star is upset about something, and he knew it was about Toffee.

He knows that the, "Toffee Talk" has to come sooner or later. The two had been avoiding it for months and whenever Marco tried to bring it up, he'd get shut down by Star and the subject would change. Marco would talk to her about it eventually.

But for now, it was time to enjoy her first anniversary on Earth.

 **O-O-O**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs. The Forces of Evil.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors note: So now here's a new chapter, which I honestly thought was going to be longer, but I decided to keep some other stuff for other chapters. I actually had to change a lot of stuff for the story to make things work, so bear with me if it takes longer to upload, I got stuff to change.

There's some development in Mewni in this chapter, and then a bit of character development with Fulgore so you can get to know him, but just a little, along with another character I introduced. Not a whole let left to say except I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

 **Chapter 2: Dire Developments**

 **O-O-O**

It had been six months since the royal wand had been cleaved. While the powerful artifact still worked, it was only half as powerful as it was before, even if it looked 'cooler' as their daughter Star put it.

The king and queen of Mewni had been counting the days since it happened, and every day they would send in their most powerful warriors out on quests to retrieve the missing pieces of the wand. Usually, their warriors would return empty handed or wounded from monster attacks, but the worst that happened was when some didn't return back home.

Every day that passed, the royal Butterflies grew more concerned and paranoid about the missing wand pieces, always fearing that someone else found it and decided to use it for their own purposes, and while it was only half of the wand gone, the lost pieces still wielded a power that could bring most foes to their knees.

Queen Butterfly tapped her fingers on her throne impatiently while her husband looked back at her with concern, he had never seen his wife like this since Star was gifted the wand.

"Darling? You seem... off today." Pointed out King Butterfly, concerned more for his wife's sanity than the wand at the moment.

She sighed in response.

"I should be, River." Addressed the queen by her husband's name. "The last time we sent out knights, they never came back."

"I'm sure the ones out now are fine." Assured River. "They're some of the best in the entire kingdom."

"It's not just that." The Queen got up and paced herself around the space of her throne. "So much is going on now, that even we don't know how to handle it."

The king frowned and got up as well, going to the queen and placed his hands on hers.

"It's stressful, I know. So much has happened over these last six months."

"Tell me about it." The queen squeezed her hands on her husband's. "Not only there are problems at home with monsters, but we could have lost our daughter."

"She's strong, Moon." Assured River once more. "After all, she's just like us… in her own Star way."

The queen merely sighed, not out of annoyance but out of concern.

"I'm worried for her, River. She's going to be queen one day and I'm not sure if I can handle seeing my daughter like, well me."

"Stressed and beautiful?"

Moon let out a light giggle, and the two shared a light kiss.

"This is why I love you, darling." Smiled Moon. "No matter what the situation is, you're there for me when I need you."

River smiled as the two took their seats back on their thrones, adjusting their postures as they began to converse to each other once more.

"Now then, I hear there's something about-

The doors to the throne room burst wide open without alarm.

The king and queen were startled by the action, and saw that there was a man clad in a steel cuirass covered in dry blood, stumbling his way onto the ground as royal guards came to the man on the ground, pointing their halberds at him as he struggled to get up.

"W-wait! I have something for the king and queen!" Shouted the man, sounding like he was out of breath as the royal rulers stood up.

"Guards!" Exclaimed the queen in a commanding voice. "Let the man speak his mind! He must have something important if he came like this."

The guards relented almost immediately, stepping away from the man who got up and walked to the bottom of the steps to the thrones, bowing while trying to catch his breath.

"Goodness man!" Exclaimed the king, surprised to see the man in such a horrible condition. "What happened to you?"

The man rose as he looked at the royalty with dilated pupils. He was filthy all over, his clothing underneath his armor had rips and tears, a few cuts could be seen as well and had bled their course, his face and armor was stained with crimson blood, and he had a look on his face as if he had seen hell itself.

"I apologize, your majesties." Panted the man. "I shouldn't even be here."

"In this room?" Asked Moon.

"In this kingdom."

The king and queen gave each other a look of confusion, and were curious as to what the man was talking about. Another good look and they could tell why he said that, and even recognized the man before them.

"You're one of the officers, aren't you? Geoffrey, is it not?"

The officer nodded his head to the queen.

"I sent you to the West Lands all those years ago." Remembered the Queen. "What happened?"

Geoffrey lowered his head down in shame, feeling ashamed to have gotten here at all. But he had to be here, and he had no other choice but to be here.

"I have much to tell you, your majesty. And it does involve my former position back at the colonies." Geoffry took a deep breath. "You won't like what you hear, but please, it's dire news you need to hear out."

"Proceed then. Tell us what you know."

Geoffrey took another breath as he began to tell his story.

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile at the West Lands, the once decent mining village was now nothing but smoking ruins.

The buildings were both burning or charred ruins, the wall gates broken down, and the people now gone. The only inhabitants left were the Gnolls that scavenged the bodies of dead Mewman troops for their gear or the buildings left standing for anything they want for the taking.

The rest of the Beastial warriors were at the outskirts of the village, celebrating the victory with taking down walls, standing around fires to drink ale and converse, or simply reentered the village to destroy whatever's left of it.

All while the primal celebrations were going on, Fulgore wandered around the camp, attending his duties to make sure everything was in order. He was walking around the crude camp, observing his warriors as they celebrated their victory, proud of what had been accomplished here.

A Krion then came up to Fulgore, standing six feet tall and was colored grey. He was one of the older Beastials here, messy fur hung beneath his goat like chin, tied in a few messy braids. The ram creature also wears several colorful beads and bone necklaces, and wears a decorated cloak that covers the Krion from head to toe, except his hands, lower legs and part of his face, for his hood covers most of it and goes through the horns and only reveals parts of the front.

The decorated Krion wields a wooden staff he balances on, carved crudely by hand and is decorated with a few rib bones and a skull of another Krion, with a pair of smaller mewman skulls hanging lower.

"The ritual is complete?" Asked Fulgore, walking alongside the Krion.

"Yes, chieftain." Responded the Krion in a raspy voice. "But if I may, why bother letting the Mewman live?"

"To send a message. Sending one of our own will get them killed, but using a Mewman will guarantee that Mewni will learn about us." Said Fulgore confidently. "We're ready to take on the Mewmans, and they will finally learn how to suffer as we have done."

The old Krion frowned at the statement in disagreement. "Fulgore…"

The two Beastials stopped at a clearing by the ruined village's gate, as Fulgore turned to look down at the six foot Krion, almost in annoyance.

"I know you want Mewni to pay for what they've done. Their kind has harmed our people far too long, but it seems… unwise to reveal our survival to them so soon."

Fulgore snorted out of frustration, not wanting to hear that statement. The old Krion quickly picked up on Fulgore's behavior.

"I'm saying that as your advisor, it's not a good idea to strike at the Mewmans too early." Argued the old Krion. "It's better to work in the shadows to build up our strength rather than to-

"We are strong!"

Fulgore's interruption sounded more like a roar, silencing the old Beastial.

"For too long, we've been hiding and running from the Mewmans! How much longer until we have to strike back? Until we're all dead?!" Exclaimed a frustrated Fulgore. "You know nothing of war, Hundak. Shamans don't even support war, so I question why the Elder Council gave you to me in the first place."

The old Krion sighed at Fulgore's outburst, who was interrupted again by Fulgore.

"Don't even give me the whole, 'I'm your uncle' talk, not even family can convince me when I know what's best for us all."

"I'm not here to just be your military advisor, Fulgore. I'm here to teach you how to be a good leader." Argued Hundak. "And good leaders don't rush in blindly to war and warn their foes of their destruction without considering other options."

"Hah! Good Leader." Scoffed Fulgore. "I've lead this army better than the Elders of the alliance. You shamans and your elders are not as wise as you claim to be, and the only thing I still find useful in shamans is their magic."

"You're not even-

"I am listening!" Fulgore shouted. "I've been listening my whole life, and I want to actually do something instead of listen to you prattle on about accepting our fate and moving on!"

Fulgore eyed a group of Gnolls coming his way, appearing to have caught a few Mewmans they were dragging with them.

"The elders can kiss my ass for all I care." Continued Fulgore. "I've done more for our people than those old sacks of shit who pray to flowers, so I'll attack as many Mewmans as I please."

"I hope you know who truly leads this alliance." Warned Hundak cautiously. "The elders are the ones who truly command us, not you."

"I do know." Said Fulgore direly. "So I hope you know too."

Fulgore walked to the Gnolls with Hundak still following, but talked boldly once again.

"The old ways are dying, uncle. In order for our people to survive, we need to change and adapt, like the nature you worship oh so much."

"Our old ways are just fine."

Fulgore chuckled out of slight disbelief, yet was not surprised at the response.

"You really are stubborn to a fault, but I can't blame you for being a follower of deception. It's not like you're…"

Fulgore stopped himself from talking, as if he didn't want to say anything more.

The two Beastials arrived to the Gnolls, who growled lowly as they bowed to Fulgore, while the captured Mewmans looked at the Beastials in horror. One of these prisoners was the former lord of the village.

"By the queen and king." Said the lord in shock. "You monsters are still alive?"

"We never went extinct, Mewman. Whatever lies you were told are false." Snarled Fulgore. "We've returned."

"No… you won't get away with this!"

The lord was punched in the gut by Fulgore, forcing the lord on his knees.

"You managed to get away with near genocide of our kind! I'll see to it that your sins become your people's downfall."

"What will you do with the survivors?" Asked Kundak with a cautious curiosity.

Fulgore simply walked past the Gnolls, ignoring the cries of mercy from the Mewmans.

"What survivors?"

Kundak shook his head as he followed suit, and the Gnolls knew what to do next as they cackled gleefully and showed their teeth. The last that could be heard from the Mewmans were the screams of pain and agony as flesh was torn apart, with a quick look by Kundak who saw the gory fate of the survivors.

"You know I can't let this go. I have to tell the council what you've done here, and you're going to have to hold off on your campaign that they'll make you cancel." Said Hundak.

"Fine. Tell them. I've been needing to talk to them for a while."

The old Krion frowned at Fulgore's arrogance.

"I'll pray to the spirits for you."

Fulgore stopped walking, crossing his arms to look at Hundak once more.

Hundak lowered his head and held it forward, as Fulgore sighed and lightly butted his horns against his uncle's as a sort of goodbye.

"I hope you learned something today." Said Hundak solemnly as he started to walk away.

"I did, uncle! I learned that I'm far stronger than you!" Exclaimed Fulgore at his fleeting uncle.

Hundak stopped as he turned around once last time, and delivered a cold message to the chieftain.

"Then say that to your father."

Hundak never turned back as he walked away, leaving a frustrated Fulgore to slam his fists on the ground. Fulgore panted as he observed the ground, staring off into it as he got up, placing his hands on his head.

The chieftan slowed his breathing, calming himself to regain his composer and got up, deciding to go back and order his troops to finish up what they were doing and to leave back to the mountains, back to their new home.

The Beastial chieftain didn't need his buttons pushed, he already had a nasty temperament as it was and he wasn't the sanest of leaders, he knew that too well. Now he had to meet with the people he considers as one of the greatest threats to his people, who he despised almost as much as the Mewmans.

He went through multiple talks with the Elder council, the oldest Beastials of the alliance that dictated the decisions, but Fulgore was defiant. He never approved of their cautious nature and unwillingness to wage war, he thought of it as cowardice and weak, to let your old foes bully you out of the last place you had to hide.

Fulgore knew there was nowhere else to go and that sooner or later, the Mewmans would find out about them and would strike when they were weak. He had to change that somehow, and he had to do it quick unless his people risk extinction once more. He has larger armies than the one he has now, he knows the West Lands better than any Mewman would, and he has an aura around him that can draw his people to his support and can even gain new alliances through it, the Gnolls being a prime example.

But first, Fulgore had to talk to the council.

Either they listen and let him continue his campaign, or he would make them listen.

 **O-O-O**

Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs. The Forces of Evil, but I do own the Beastials, Fulgore and Kundak.


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